Avocado Kale Salad

Leafy greens are a staple in my family's diet. I try to cycle through the darker varieties - spinach, Swiss chard, mustard greens, turnip greens, collards, and kale.

This salad was inspired by one I had from a health food store salad bar. I thought that salad had potential, but was a little boring with just kale, onions, and the avocado dressing. I livened up this version with mini heirloom tomatoes, raw pepitas, and cucumber. 

There is a lot of nutritional value to be excited about in this tasty raw salad. Kale is high in Vitamins A, C, and K, and also contains significant amounts of calcium, folate, and potassium. Avocados contain beneficial fats in addition to a high fiber content, Vitamins C and K, and folate. Lemons are full of potassium and Vitamin C.  Pumpkin seeds are a good source of zinc and other trace minerals. Tomatoes are rich in antioxidants.

Avocado Kale Salad

1 big bunch of kale, washed, chopped, and stems removed (or a 10oz bag of pre-chopped kale)
2 avocados, peeled and pitted
2 lemons, peeled and seeded
1/3 cup water
3 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup raw pepitas (hull-less pumpkin seeds)
1 medium English cucumber, diced (about 1 cup)
1 cup diced cherry tomatoes (I used some mini heirlooms)

In a food processor or blender, puree avocados, lemons, water, garlic, salt, and pepper.

Place kale in a large mixing bowl. Pour avocado dressing over the kale, mix well, and then use your hands to massage the dressing into the kale. This will make the leaves tender.

Stir in the pepitas, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes.

The salad can be served immediately or refrigerated and allowed to marinate for several hours or overnight.

Garbanzo Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm not gluten-free right now, but I still like to experiment with gluten-free baking. I have never used xanthan gum in my gluten-free baking because everything I've made has turned out fine without it so I think it's unnecessary in most recipes. These cookies are made with garbanzo flour, which gives a beany flavor to the dough but the beaniness disappears upon baking. They are also free of tree nuts, peanuts, and soy. If you desire, you can stir in coconut flakes, dried fruit, nuts, or seeds along with or instead of the chocolate chips. The cookies bake up soft and don't fall apart or crumble like many of the gluten-free recipes I've tried.

*Note* This recipe had a typo. It should have been 1/4 cup non-dairy milk instead of 3/4 cup.

Garbanzo Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup non-dairy milk

1 Tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups garbanzo flour

3/4 cup chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, use a fork to combine brown and white sugars, coconut oil, non-dairy milk, and cornstarch. If your kitchen is cool, it might be easier to mix with an electric beater because coconut oil solidifies below 76F.

Stir in vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Mix in garbanzo flour until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop dough by the tablespoon onto the cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Vampire-Away Kale Chips

One of the local health food stores had a sample of garlicky kale chips out one day so I tried them. They were wonderful, but cost something like $5-6 for a small container. I bought a bunch of kale a couple days ago, so decided I had to replicate those chips. Mine are baked instead of raw because I don't have a dehydrator and raw vegetables are hard on my finicky stomach.

Vampire-Away Kale Chips

1 bunch green kale
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 275F.

Wash kale, then remove the ribs and tear or cut the leaves into bite-sized pieces.

In a large bowl, toss the kale with the olive oil, then with the nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and salt. I found it was easiest to get an even coating by shaking it in a container with a lid, but tossing in a bowl also works.

Place kale on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until crispy, stirring once halfway through.

Cucumber, Radish, and Carrot Salad

I often ate cucumbers with vinegar when I was growing up. This salad is a prettier and more flavorful version of that easy snack. The mint and red wine vinegar can be substituted with other fresh herbs or vinegars if you want a different flavor.

Cucumber, Radish, and Carrot Salad

1 medium cucumber
1 medium carrot
5-6 radishes
15-20 fresh mint leaves, minced
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp agave nectar
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
pinch salt and pepper

Peel and thinly slice the cucumber and carrot. Thinly slice the radishes. Place all three vegetables in a bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together the minced mint, olive oil, agave, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. Poor dressing over the vegetables and mix well. Cover the bowl and put in refrigerator to marinate for about an hour before serving. Serve salad on it's own or over a bed of baby spinach. Serves about 4.

Cheesy Herbed Potatoes

I haven't been cooking much new lately since I've been fighting with bronchitis and asthma. I'm feeling a little better now and had a bag of baby gold potatoes, so I decided to make one of my family's favorite side dishes. I served them with Field Roast vegan Italian sausages and a second side of almond green beans.

Cheesy Herbed Potatoes

1.5 lbs new or baby potatoes, sliced thin
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
1 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 425F. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, then spread evenly on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring once halfway through baking, or until potatoes are soft and lightly browned.

French Lentil and Kale Soup

This recipe uses French (green) lentils instead of the more common brown variety, but you can use red or brown lentils if you don't have green available. The taste of each is a little different, but all make for good soup. French lentils hold their form much better than other varieties. I keep a bag of frozen sliced leeks on hand for dishes like this, which saves both money and leek cleaning time. I like to add leafy greens to as many dishes as possible, so this one utilizes kale.

French Lentil and Kale Soup

2 cups sliced leeks
2 carrots, sliced into rounds, then quartered
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
6 cups vegetable broth (or 2 low-sodium bouillon cubes in 6 cups water)
2 cups green lentils
3 bay leaves
1 Tbsp Herbes de Provence
1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
sea salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste.

In a stock pot, saute the leeks, carrots, and garlic in the olive oil until the leeks are translucent. Add the broth, lentils, bay leaves, and Herbes de Provence. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until lentils are tender.

Add kale and cook until kale is wilted. Remove bay leaves and salt and pepper to taste.

Spaghetti Squash and Fava Beans with Sunflower Pesto

Spaghetti squash is a great alternative to pasta if you're trying to avoid grains or simple carbohydrates. I often pair it with a tomato-based pasta sauce, but tonight I decided to raid the basil pots in my kitchen window and make pesto. I only got one cup worth of leaves from my poor, stripped little plants, so I decided to make a milder pesto by adding spinach. The first can of beans I pulled out of the pantry were fava beans, but you can substitute favas with any other bean you like.

Spaghetti Squash and Fava Beans with Sunflower Pesto

Ingredients:
1 medium-sized spaghetti squash

1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 cup spinach
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp salt

1 can fava beans, drained and rinsed
2 shallots, sliced thin
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp olive oil
pinch salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375F. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Place cut side down on a cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes.

While the squash is baking, make the pesto. Place basil, spinach, sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, olive oil, and salt in a food processor and process until smooth. The spinach may cause the pesto sauce to oxidize and turn a little darker, but this doesn't affect the flavor.

Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a saute pan. Add shallots and mushrooms and saute for 3-4 minutes, until shallots are translucent. Add beans, salt, and pepper, and continue sauteing for another 1-2 minutes until beans are hot.

When the squash is done cooking, use a fork to separate the strands. Put squash on plates and spoon pesto and bean mixture on top. Mix the pesto into the squash before eating.

Serves about 3.

Raw Sunflower Seed Cookies

I've been experimenting with raw cookies for the last couple days. I don't have a dehydrator, so I needed to come up with a recipe that only required a food processor. I posted a variation of this recipe containing almonds and peanut butter on my Facebook page a couple days ago. This variation uses coconut and sunflower seed butter instead, so it's suitable for people with peanut or tree-nut allergies. They are also sugar-free and grain-free.

It is easy to make your own nut and seed butters by running roasted or raw nuts or seeds in a food processor, scraping down the sides frequently until a butter forms. Different ingredients take different amounts of time to process into butters. Sunflower seeds process in about 5 minutes, while almonds can take 10-20. Sesame seeds are low in oil so require a little added oil to turn into tahini. For this recipe, I used some homemade unsalted sunflower seed butter that needed to be used up.

Raw Sunflower Seed Cookies

1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (or coconut flour)
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seed butter
1 cup pitted dates
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Pulse the coconut in a food processor until it turns into a coarse flour. Add the sunflower butter, dates, and vanilla and process until the dates are incorporated and a dough-like mixture is formed. If the mixture isn't sticky enough to form a soft dough, add another tablespoon of sunflower butter and process again. Using your hands, form dough into balls. Flatten slightly into a cookie shape. Refrigerate for a few hours to overnight and enjoy.

Miso Soup with Avocado and Scallion

I started making this easy soup when I had work done on my mouth and couldn't chew well for a while. I didn't have time to make dashi so I used regular vegetable broth. The avocado turns a basic broth into a surprisingly filling comfort food.

Miso Soup with Avocado and Scallion

(one serving)
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (or 1/2 of a low-sodium vegetable bouillon cube in 1 1/2 cups water)
1 Tbsp white miso
1/2 avocado, diced
1 scallion, sliced thin

Bring vegetable broth to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in miso until dissolved. Pour the miso and broth into a soup bowl and stir in avocado and scallion.

That's it! Slurp it from the bowl Japanese-style or go Western and use a spoon.

Banana Oat Cookies

These muffin-like cookies are free of wheat, sugar, oil, and soy in addition to being vegan!

Banana Oat Cookies

2 cups oat flour or oatmeal run through a blender or food processor until fine (I used old-fashioned oats)
4 overripe bananas, blended (the riper the banana, the sweeter it is)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
1/3 cup cashew pieces (or shelled sunflower seeds, or other chopped nut or dried fruits)
1/3 cup chopped dates

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cinnamon and baking soda into the oatmeal flour and then stir in the blended banana, cashews, and dates. Drop by the tablespoon onto an oiled cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Variations:
Other substitutions would be good for the cashews and/or dates. I just used what I had in the kitchen. Maybe dried cranberries or blueberries, pumpkin seeds, slivered almonds, whatever is safe and available. The photograph above is a batch containing sunflower seeds and dried cranberries.

Broiled Grapefruit

Looking for a quick, light, hot breakfast without all the grains or a fruit to compliment a heartier meal? I had one lonely grapefruit left so I made this. Broiling the grapefruit mellows the tartness, so even people who don't normally like grapefruit may like it this way.

Broiled Grapefruit

1 red grapefruit
1 tsp coconut oil or Earth Balance
3/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the broiler on your oven. Cut the grapefruit in half. With a small knife or grapefruit knife, score the fruit along the membranes and rind. This will make it easier to scoop out after cooking.

In a small bowl, stir together the coconut oil or Earth Balance, sugar, and cinnamon until well combined. Spread the mixture over the grapefruit halves and place the halves on a cookie sheet.

Broil for 3-5 minutes. Serves one, but the recipe can easily be multiplied to serve more.

Oat Flour Banana Bread

This tasty bread is soy-free, wheat-free, and nut-free. My family devoured it in less than 24 hours, so it's obviously not free of flavor, though.

Oat Flour Banana Bread

Ingredients:
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 ripe bananas
2 cups oat flour (or oatmeal run through a food processor until very fine)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup coconut milk (the beverage kind, not the canned. I used coconut nog that was left over from the holidays)
1 tsp vanilla extract
cinnamon and brown sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a hand-held mixer, cream the coconut oil, sugar, and bananas in a mixing bowl. Mix in the oat flour, baking soda, and baking powder, and then add the coconut milk and vanilla and mix well. Pour batter into an oiled 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 bread pan. Smooth the top of the batter, then sprinkle with a little cinnamon and brown sugar. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out dry.

Fennel and Kale and Tofu, Oh My!

Here I go, starting something new. My main blog is Evergreen and Indigo, but since I'd rather focus that blog on writing than food, I've created this new one as a place to put my recipes. I'll start with tonight's dinner...

Creamy Fennel-Celery Soup, Balsamic Kale, and Breaded and Baked Italian-Herbed Tofu.

Creamy Fennel-Celery Soup

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium-sized onion, sliced
1 fennel bulb (stems trimmed off and bulb thinly sliced. Keep some of the fronds for garnish)
6 celery stalks, sliced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
4 cups water or vegetable stock
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used soymilk)
2 tsp minced fresh basil

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until it just begins to brown. Add the fennel and celery to the saucepan and saute along with the onion until the vegetables are slightly translucent and tender.

Season with salt and pepper and add the water or stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for 30 minutes.

Remove saucepan from heat and stir in the non-dairy milk. In batches, place soup in a food processor or blender and puree. Return soup to pot and stir in the minced basil.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with fennel greens and minced basil.

Serves about 6.


Balsamic Kale

1 bunch green kale
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 scallions, sliced thin
1 Tbsp olive or coconut oil
1-2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Heat the oil in a saute pan. Rinse the kale, then remove the stems and chop the leaves into bite-sized pieces. Add the scallion and garlic to the pan and saute for 1-2 minutes until the garlic begins to brown. Add the kale and saute with the garlic and scallion. As soon as the kale begins to soften, add the balsamic vinegar. Stir for 1 minute, then remove from heat and serve.


Breaded and Baked Italian-Herbed Tofu

1 lb sprouted tofu
1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 Tbsp Italian herbs (or a combination of basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and sage)
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp hummus
1/2 cup non-dairy milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In one small bowl, mix the panko, herbs, and salt. In a second small bowl, whisk together the non-dairy milk and hummus.

Slice the tofu into 1/4 inch thick squares. One at a time, dip the tofu squares into the hummus mixture and then into the panko mixture. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes until browned, flipping once halfway through the cooking time. Serve with condiment of choice (my kids prefer barbecue sauce).